TheEquipop General Assembly on November 6 was an opportunity to come together, learn, and discuss the association's core issues: the sexual and reproductive rights of women and young people in West Africa. It was also an opportunity to launch a new campaign to mobilize young people against the practice of female genital mutilation, to be held on February 6.
The General Assembly provided an opportunity to review the various initiatives carried out by Equipop during 2017-2018, such as the edutainment series. That's Life, the launch of the Gender and G7 movement, and Equipop Lab (a new project incubation methodology).
A workshop to mobilize motivated young people in promoting the abandonment of female genital mutilation
Alongside these discussions, a group of motivated young people worked to design an information and awareness campaign around February 6, 2019—International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
Pierre Foldes – urologist, member of the Equipop board, and inventor of a surgical method to repair the physical damage caused by excision – and Sokhna Fall, program manager at Equipop, introduced the session. Sokhna Fall discussed Equipop's past and current programs to combat female genital mutilation: "Protecting Future Generations"(in West Africa) and "Let's Change" (among diasporas in Europe).
Their interventions enabled young people to understand the extent of the practice, its underlying causes, and ways to promote its abandonment.
" The consequences of excision are physical and, it should not be forgotten, psychological" – Dr. Pierre Foldes
This was followed by a fruitful discussion, which outlined the main points of the mobilization on February 6, 2019: Equipop and its volunteers will build a temporary, multi-format museum in Paris to raise public awareness of female genital mutilation¹.
"Understanding and supporting adolescent sexuality in West Africa"
Young people, volunteers, members of Equipop, and interested participants were then invited to attend a lecture given by Yannick Jaffré, entitled "Understanding and supporting adolescent sexuality in West Africa."
"There are new forms of what is acceptable and desirable that are shaping a new mindset, and therefore a new sexuality among young people in West Africa"– Yannick Jaffré
A research director at the CNRS, he drew on his observations as a socio-anthropologist and the comprehensive sexuality education program he worked on in Benin to discuss socio-cultural developments and obstacles that prevent young people from approaching their sexuality with confidence and peace of mind.
"Children find it very difficult to talk about sexuality with their parents. Even when it comes to their first period, girls find it hard to talk about it" – Yannick Jaffré
His valuable contributions and analyses reminded us, once again, of the fundamental role of appropriate and comprehensive education for young people, especially young girls. To protect the sexual health and rights of women and girls, boys and girls must have access, without judgment, to accurate and non-stereotypical information about sexuality, which they are encountering at an increasingly early age.
To conclude the event, everyone had the opportunity to continue their discussions over cocktails, their minds buzzing with the lessons learned, the evening's debates, and plans for future action.
¹ Would you also like to volunteer for Equipop and participate in this project? Send an email to aline.samake@equipop.org
²You can find the recording of the conference "Understanding and supporting adolescent sexuality in West Africa" here.
